Hazel Park robbery suspect jailed on $2 million bond

A Detroit man accused of trying to rob a Hazel Park restaurant and fleeing in a vehicle carjacked earlier from a Ferndale man is jailed on $2 million cash bond.

Melvin E. Meeks, 45, was arraigned Saturday before Hazel Park 43rd District Magistrate James Paterson. He is charged with armed robbery, fleeing police, and resisting and obstructing Hazel Park officers after a chase at speeds of up to 120 mph.

Police said Meeks was driving a 2002 Subaru carjacked from a Ferndale man about 15 hours before he tried to hold up a Hardee’s restaurant at 23240 John R early Friday afternoon and fled empty-handed.

Ferndale police this week are investigating whether Meeks is the same man involved in a series of four carjacking-related incidents within an hour in their city last Thursday night.

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“We potentially have four witnesses,” said Ferndale Police Lt. William Wilson. “We have to see if anybody can identify him in a lineup.”

The man Ferndale police are looking for was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and it was nighttime. The man was driving a vehicle carjacked in Detroit when he was involved in a hit-and-run accident and abandoned the stolen car in the 500 block of Academy.

Ferndale police said he then tried to carjack a vehicle two men were sitting in on Silman Street in front of their house about 9:45 p.m., but the men drove off. The man then unsuccessfully tried to carjack vehicles from two separate men a short time later in the parking lot of State Fair Market, 726 Hilton.

About 10:30 p.m., the man carjacked the Subaru that was used the next day in the Hazel Park attempted robbery. The owner of the Subaru had just pulled into the driveway of his house with his son when the man stuck something in the owner’s chest. The man demanded the vehicle and the owner complied and yelled for his son to go in the house, police said.

Hazel Park police said Meeks was driving the same Subaru when he tried to rob Hardee’s the next day.

The suspect “approached the (female) cashier and announced a robbery while in possession of what was believed to be a hand gun,” said Hazel Park Police Chief Martin Barner. “The cashier retreated out of the service area, at which time the suspect fled on foot without obtaining any money and was observed by officers leaving the location.”

Meeks got into the stolen Subaru, headed south on I-75, and finally hit a parked car in the area of Seven Mile and Conant in Detroit, police said.

Meeks was treated at the hospital for injuries he suffered in the crash.

The suspect is scheduled for a pre-exam conference in Hazel Park District Court at 10 a.m. Friday. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the armed robbery.